Couple of pictures of my MINI - photography tips wanted!

[xtremepsionic]

After looking at you guy's awesome MINI pictures, I went out and took some of my own. But I just can't capture pictures that look professional some of you guy's Give me some tips please!











ps. its middle of winter here in Calgary and its like a permanent sunset at all times :P

[StoopidGirl]

what're you talking about!? that first one is GREAT . One of the key factors is to adjust the brightness and contrast of things in photoshop to give them a little more ooph but as a whole your shots are good.

[chows4us]

I agree, first shot is great. Your out of focus up close, next time just use a higher f-stop to get everything in focus and I think it would be a tad better.

Second shot, IMO, has too much sky. White skies are lousy. There is the rule of thirds and the sky is taking up too much but that is all about composition.

LOOKING GOOD!

[dave]

First of all, I would love to have some of the beautiful scenery around Calgary to photograph a MINI in. Just awesome country you have there. And permanent sunset would be great to work with.


Photo 1
What I like: the low angle, the detail of the road gravel, the position of the car with the wheel turned.

For next time: I would have turned the lights off. It's clearly daytime, the lights are blownout, and your losing the detail of the xenon lenses. I think it might be cropped a bit tight too on the right side.

Photo 2
What I like: This is my favorite shot. Nicely done. Nice background and the car is well positioned in the frame with the wheels turned.

For next time: again, I would recommend turning off the headlights.

Photo 3
What I like: the sky detail is very good

What doesn't work: the car is back lit and winds up being very underexposed. You also have some lens flare. It's just very hard to shoot in the morning on the shady side of the car.

Photo 4
For this one, i'm not sure how I'd try to reframe it. Just looking at it, it is instantly recognizeable as Calgary, but something about just seeing the back end like that isn't working for me.

Photo 5
Not to sure on this one what to recommend. I do like what the shot conveys.

Here are some of my recommendations How-to make better MINI photographs

[scooby]

Nice shots and a great canvas to shoot on

just a quick edit in photoshop

warmed up a little with slight gradient and border

ps

think all us newbies always fall foul of turning the headlights/sides/fogs on as yea it looks cool there but when you get the pics back you see they have blown out and all you can see is pure white or some lense reflections which spoil the shot and the lines of the car.

We live and learn tho!!

[chows4us]

Thats part of the problem with digital cameras and photoshop ... the darkroom is on the computer.

I think its better that people learn how to use the camera as intended ... get the right composition in the camera, get the right Fstop, etc. Darkroom alterations should be minimal at best ... but maybe thats Old School and technology marches on

[dave]

I wouldn't say it's old school. Getting the proper exposure makes the work easier in post. It also makes it more rewarding because you don't have to fight the over/under exposed areas of the photograph as much.

Like most things though, you can make it as easy or as complicated as you'd like.

[Tüls]

Originally Posted by chows4us

Thats part of the problem with digital cameras and photoshop ... the darkroom is on the computer.

I think its better that people learn how to use the camera as intended ... get the right composition in the camera, get the right Fstop, etc. Darkroom alterations should be minimal at best ... but maybe thats Old School and technology marches on

As DID and StoopidGirl said...I wouldn't say it about old school...

the reality is...you can't get out of a photo what isn't there...so just like in a dark room if there isn't enough color or depth...or the format you shot in wasn't large enough....well, your not going to get more out of it...it will turn grainy or over saturated...etc

also, I love to crop my shots to look like an anamorphic widescreen, and well my camera doesn't shoot that way...so for me I see things very cinematically....

It's not like you can change the F stop once the picture is taken...unless you are shooting with an HDRI camera...and uhhh they start @ about 25k last time I checked...brightness and contrast do not do what F stop does...

I do agree with you though...one should learn the ins and outs of the dark room to better understand why they would use photoshop

especially cause I am more interested in showing people and seeing from others the way one sees the shot. this is why someone would choose to have specific people shoot thier car...for the way things "look" to through that artists eye....the dark room and photoshop just add to the tools for me as a photographer and more importantly an artist




xtremepsionic I pretty much agree accross the board with what DID said...so...good job...keep it up!

[chows4us]

Originally Posted by Tuls

also, I love to crop my shots to look like an anamorphic widescreen, and well my camera doesn't shoot that way...so for me I see things very cinematically....

Nothing wrong with cropping but you used to do that in the camera by just switching lense, maybe a very wide angle. More and more digital SLRs are coming out with the complete lens suite but the average consumer still uses point and shoot. Personally, I think its best to compose it they way you want in the camera but thats just me.

[Crashton]

Originally Posted by chows4us

Nothing wrong with cropping but you used to do that in the camera by just switching lense, maybe a very wide angle. More and more digital SLRs are coming out with the complete lens suite but the average consumer still uses point and shoot. Personally, I think its best to compose it they way you want in the camera but thats just me.

chows4us, I'm of the old school too. I rememeber pushing film, mixing that special developer, dodging & burning in. Rolling my own.....film that is....to save a few bucks. Crop, heck yes move that enlarger head as high as it'll go. Not high enough? Put the easle on the floor, now that's cropped. I've smelled those darn chemicals for 35 years or so.

Two years ago I went digital & haven't looked back.

If one wants to learn the craft of photograph. I suggest an slr with a manual setting & one lens. When you learn all about that lens it's time for another. This will take a while.

Extremepsionic, I like your pictures. DiD gave you some great tips. Here's one from me.....keep shooting! That is the only way that one learns. Digital makes it easy to shoot a lot, once you've got a camera & flashcard it's free. Not like in the old days when one pondered if they should or shouldn't take the picture because film cost money & chemicals & paper more still. IMO the digital age is great.

Keep shooting!!!

Chuck

[Tüls]

Originally Posted by Crashton

Extremepsionic, I like your pictures. DiD gave you some great tips. Here's one from me.....keep shooting! That is the only way that one learns. Digital makes it easy to shoot a lot, once you've got a camera & flashcard it's free. Not like in the old days when one pondered if they should or shouldn't take the picture because film cost money & chemicals & paper more still. IMO the digital age is great.

Keep shooting!!!

Chuck

Well said...nothing can replace what is gained by expirence...

[89AKurt]

1. Too much dirt. Too much light.
2. Crop for panarama. Sky is over-exposed.
3. The red line is distracting.
4. Too snap-shot looking. What's the sniper lazer doing on the guardrail?
5. Too tiny!

I am trying to not fall in love with every picture I take. I use headlights for my sunset shots... because I can't see what I'm doing! My best advice, try the unusual over the tourist snap-shot. And use a tripod!

[MarkS]

I especially like the first shot though I agree that it would be better with the lights off. I actually like the lights in the second shot (the aperture blade diffraction stars are kinda nice). I don't like the blow-out sky. Two ways you could have fixed that would have been a graduated neutral density filter or making two exposures, one for the foreground and one for the sky and then combining them in Photoshop.

Normally, I'm very averse to heavy Photoshop manipulation with my stuff because I like to nail it in-camera and, IMO, a heavily manipulated shot is no longer a photograph. Nothing wrong with doing it provided it's not done for editorial shots in order to deceive, but it's not photography. Again, IMO. For this sort of thing, though, I'd have no problem with taking two exposures and combining them since the intent is to show how the scene actually appeared. You eye has much greater dynamic range than the camera's sensor.

Good stuff!

Mark

[Tüls]

Originally Posted by MarkS

Normally, I'm very averse to heavy Photoshop manipulation with my stuff because I like to nail it in-camera and, IMO, a heavily manipulated shot is no longer a photograph. Nothing wrong with doing it provided it's not done for editorial shots in order to deceive, but it's not photography.

so this famous pic which was edited hevely in the dark room is no longer a photo?






I think one should use EVERY tool you have in your box...again photoshop is not for making up what you can't get....it's only to add to it...to say it's no longer a photo is just plain silly....now if you can tell it's photoshoped that's no good...it should be like using the dark room....

[MarkS]

Originally Posted by Tuls

so this famous pic which was edited hevely in the dark room is no longer a photo?

I don't think that was heavily manipulated. Probably some dodging and burning. The people and the light rays weren't pasted in or anything like that, to the best of my knowledge. So it's a photo. Light no longer comes in those windows like that, btw, because of buildings that have since been put up nearby.

I think one should use EVERY tool you have in your box...again photoshop is not for making up what you can't get....it's only to add to it...to say it's no longer a photo is just plain silly....now if you can tell it's photoshoped that's no good...it should be like using the dark room....

It becomes a photo illustration. Photography was used as a starting point but the end result is not a photo. Again, nothing wrong with that, provided it's not done in a photojournalistic setting in which case it's extremely wrong. It's just not something that I normally do.

Mark

[Tüls]

Originally Posted by MarkS

I don't think that was heavily manipulated. Probably some dodging and burning. The people and the light rays weren't pasted in or anything like that, to the best of my knowledge. So it's a photo. Light no longer comes in those windows like that, btw, because of buildings that have since been put up nearby.

It becomes a photo illustration.......

oh I didn't mean anything was pasted in....and that goes for photoshop...I think we are on the same page...burning and dodging...adjusting levels or croping...stuff like that is what I would mean by using photoshop...not taking a pic and pasting in my mini...LOL...or something like that...that's why in one of my earlier posts I said people should learn about hte drakroom first...and there for WHY/HOW to use photoshop...

[MarkS]

Originally Posted by Tuls

oh I didn't mean anything was pasted in....and that goes for photoshop...I think we are on the same page...burning and dodging...adjusting levels or croping...stuff like that is what I would mean by using photoshop...not taking a pic and pasting in my mini...LOL...or something like that...that's why in one of my earlier posts I said people should learn about hte drakroom first...and there for WHY/HOW to use photoshop...

Yeah, we agree. I have no problem at all with Photoshop analogs to "simple" darkroom procedures like dodging and burning and, like I said, no problem with anything at all provided it's presented for what it is; my keeping to the simple stuff is a matter of personal taste and that the majority of my stuff leans towards the photojournalistic.

Mark

[StoopidGirl]

my photos are almost always 50% in-camera and 50% post, If you can get that combo down you'll be doing something right. I agree with DID so if you can get higher results in-camera always strive for that first.